


Perfuma's Flower

by Mantype



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/F, mermista is a surfer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25576216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mantype/pseuds/Mantype
Summary: When Mermista stops to browse in a flower shop on her way home from surfing, she finds herself enamored with a certain green thumbed shop owner. She comes up with increasingly bizarre reasons to visit the shop and buy flowers, a thinly veiled excuse to see Perfuma.
Relationships: Mermista/Perfuma (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Perfuma's Flower

The first time Mermista visited Perfuma’s flower shop, she only happened to be passing by, and entered the store on a stroke of boredom with her daily routine. She had just finished with surf practice, and when she saw the pretty displays outside she had been drawn right in.  
The outside of the shop had not prepared Mermista for what she would find inside, for as she walked through the door she was struck by the strong smell of fertilizer and flowers, and even more so by the presence of the gorgeous owner.  
“Hello! Welcome to my flower shop, my name’s Perfuma. How can I help you?” greeted the girl from behind the counter. Her hair was a bleached blonde, her skin dotted with freckles.  
Mermista was not one to show how she felt, and responded cooly, “hey, I’m Mermista. And I was just… browsing.”  
“Of course! Please take your time, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me.” Perfuma flashed a kind smile, and though Mermista knew it was probably just a customer service face, her heart fluttered slightly.  
“Right, will do, thank you.”  
After looking around for a couple minutes Mermista left, promising herself she’d come back some time soon.  
~~~

The next time Mermista visited the flower shop, it was a number of weeks later and she needed a housewarming present for Sea Hawk, who had just moved into a new apartment. She thought a houseplant might liven up the place, and it was a perfect opportunity to pay a second visit to Perfuma and her flower shop.  
She entered the shop, the smell hitting her once again. This time Perfuma wasn’t behind the counter, but Mermista spotted her near the back tending to some plants. She called out to her, “Hey, um you probably don’t remember me but I was here a couple of weeks ago.”  
Perfuma turned and looked up, brushing a stray hair out of her face with a dirt covered hand. Mermista felt her breath catch in her throat. Perfuma’s hair had leaves and flower petals sticking in it randomly, and a dirty apron covered a loose floral blouse, of which Perfuma had rolled up the sleeves to her elbows. Mermista thought she was beautiful. “Oh I remember you! Mermista was it?” Perfuma brushed off her hands and stood up, a smile lighting up her face. “What brings you back to my humble flower shop?”  
Mermista felt her face turn red. Perfuma had remembered her, and knew her name without hesitation. “Yes. Right. I was looking for a housewarming present for a close friend of mine, and I thought you might know a good house plant that isn’t too difficult to take care of?”  
“Oh sure, what kind of living situation are we talking about here?”  
“An apartment, he’s got some sunlight but not the whole day.”  
“Ok, come with me and I’ll show you one of my favorites, peace lilies. They’re super easy to take care of as long as you give them enough water.”  
“Cool, thanks.” Mermista followed Perfuma as she wove through the stands with different sized pots filled with flowers.  
The lilies were perfect, and Mermista bought them without any hesitation. As she left the store, she felt a little sad, because she couldn’t imagine another reason she might have to visit again. Which was the moment Mermista decided if she didn’t have a reason, she’d just make one up. She was a pretty good liar and it wouldn’t hurt Perfuma. If anything she was just bringing more business.  
~~~  
And so she did. Every other week, on varying days so as not to arouse too much suspicion from her flowery crush, Mermista would visit the store, growing used to the smell, but hardly getting used to the presence of the girl who worked there. Every time Mermista entered the shop she was entranced by Perfuma, such that her lies were not always as well crafted as she might have liked. She started off well enough, a friends dance performance, a mother’s day gift, normal things like that. But before long she had so go to some lengths to find a decent excuse. 

~~~  
One time she entered the shop asking for flowers to cheer up her dog, which simultaneously saddened and confused Perfuma, who quickly found a bunch of flowers that wouldn’t be harmful to dogs. Meanwhile, Mermista sighed to herself, as she didn’t even own a dog. She certainly didn’t have a good answer when Perfuma asked it’s name.  
“Um… Buddy?” She had half asked.  
Perfuma raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything about it. “Well, I hope he feels better soon.”  
“Who? Oh yes right. I hope so too.”  
~~~  
A couple weeks later she came and asked for flowers for a pet funeral, which she was holding for her pet dog… Buster? She couldn’t quite remember.  
“Oh no! I hope I didn’t accidentally give you a flower that was unsafe for dogs…” Perfuma seemed genuinely concerned, and Mermista had trouble keeping up a somber mood for her made up dog.  
“No no, definitely not. He loved them. But he was getting old anyway. I suppose it was just his time.”  
“Well, I hope you’re feeling alright.” Mermista was in the presence of Perfuma, so overall she was feeling pretty good.  
~  
On one occasion she asked for flowers because she was planning on making fancy looking soaps with rose petals in them. Mermista wasn’t quite sure what had compelled her to think of that one.  
“That’s so fun! Tell me how they turn out next time you stop by!”  
Mermista hadn’t yet considered that Perfuma might be expecting her to come by every so often, but she supposed she had become somewhat of a regular. She also hadn’t actually been planning on actually making soaps, but that weekend she called over Sea Hawk and talked at length about her crush as they poured soap and petals into molds. They ended up quite nice, and Mermista brought one with her the next time she went, handing it to Perfuma as nonchalantly as she could.  
“I made a lot and had some extras so I thought, um, that you might like to have one of my soaps. I hope that’s not weird.”  
“Not at all, they turned out so beautifully! Thank you very much!” That complement carried Mermista through the next weeks, the hours of watching soap making tutorials had all been worth it.  
~  
After the holidays she came in, tired from having to deal with her extended relatives, and asked for flowers to apologize to in-laws she had offended. She definitely had some angry in-laws, so this one wasn’t a complete lie, but these flowers were for her alone, they didn’t deserve such beautiful things.  
Perfuma’s flower shop was a respite from the craziness she had been through, and Mermista was infinitely glad for the understanding smile and kind words Perfuma offered her with her floral purchase. “I hope your days bring you more peace and happiness in the future. We could all do with a little more of that.”  
“Thank you. I know I would certainly appreciate it.”  
~  
There was one day when a surf competition had not gone the way she would have liked that Mermista came and asked, “What kinds of flowers do you think would look pretty if I set them on fire?”  
“I don’t- Can you tell me why you need that? Seems like a bit of a waste if you ask me.”  
“Oh it definitely is but I did a bad job at my competition today and I need something to cheer me up.” Mermista sighed deeply. “I know it’s silly.”  
“Well, if it’ll make you feel better, but I don’t really think anything will really catch, there’s too much moisture.”  
“Damn it! Can’t anything go my way?!”  
“It’s a bit of a strange alternative but you’re welcome to cut up the old wilted flowers if it’ll help you take out your frustration. They’re going on the compost heap anyway, so you can go as wild as you’d like.” Perfuma offered a tentative smile at Mermista. “I’ll even let you do it free of charge.”  
Mermista managed a weak laugh. “You’d really let me do that?”  
Perfuma nodded, pointing to the compost heap. “That tournament or whatever it was must have really been terrible. I wish you luck in your next one.”  
~~~  
This went on for many months, and Mermista had had enough. She was quickly running out of lies, and honestly she just wanted to tell Perfuma how she felt. So she employed a new strategy.  
She entered the store, demeanor the same as always, cool and composed, although internally her heart was racing. Perfuma greeted her with the same friendly smile she always did. “Hey Mermista, what’ll it be today?”  
Mermista hesitated. She wasn’t sure how she was going to go about confessing. “Well. What’s the kind of flower you might give…” she paused, taking a deep breath before mumbling “to someone you’ve admired from afar and keep using a dumb excuse to see? And you’d like to confess that you like them?”  
Perfuma considered the request, looking around the shop with a thoughtful smile. “I’ll be right back. I think I might have something for you.”  
“Alright, thanks.” As Perfuma shuffled around the back of the shop, arranging flowers into a bouquet, Mermista braced herself for what she was going to do next. The longer she waited, the more she felt like it was a stupid plan. Why was she giving flowers to the literal owner of the flower shop? It was a dumb gift. But she had committed herself and now, well, she had no choice but to go through with it.  
“Ok. This is what I have. I think it should impress anyone you give it to. You should tell them directly though, whoever they are.” Perfuma handed Mermista a lovely bouquet across the counter, a warm smile present on her lips, which Mermista had to try very hard not to stare at. Mesmista took the flowers, taking a quick second to admire them before holding them out to Perfuma, who looked a little confused. “Do you want something different or…?”  
“Oh no sorry I-” Mermista grew flustered, and rushed out her next words. “Perfuma, here’s a bouquet of flowers crafted by the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met. I’m giving them to you because I like you and I need to tell you because my house is getting kind of full of flowers that I bought as an excuse to see you.”  
“Oh!” Perfuma blushed. “I don’t know what to say.”  
Mermista mentally slapped herself. Whatever made her think Perfuma liked her back? She had really hoped for a more... positive reaction. “Oh gosh I knew this was stupid I’m so sorry I’ll never come here agian. Let me pay for those flowers first though. I did make you put them together. Um. yeah sorry again,” Mermista trailed off, looking anywhere but Perfuma.  
“No you misunderstand! Mermista. I like you too, I just wasn’t expecting you to confess in that way. For my part I had already accepted that you were interested in someone else.” Perfuma layed down the flowers and moved around the counter, moving toward Mermista, and gently taking her hand. Mermista looked up at the contact. “How about this. I’ll close up shop, it’s getting late anyways, and we’ll go grab something to eat, maybe go on a walk, see the sunset.”  
Mermista couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Perfuma was holding her hand, and had just suggested a date. “That sounds amazing. But, are you sure you can just close like that? I don’t want you to lose business or anything.”  
Perfuma laughed, grabbing one of the flowers from her bouquet and gently putting it behind Mermista’s ear. “Don’t worry, business is very good. There’s this really pretty girl who comes here twice a month and brings all the beauty of the ocean with her, and always leaves with a bunch of flowers. Although she has some weird reasons for buying them I must say.” Perfuma’s hand lingered for a second by Mermista’s cheek, before she drew away. Mermista was very aware of how hot her face felt, and wondered if Perfuma could tell. “I’ve got to clean up real quick but I’ll be right with you and ready to go in just a couple minutes. Think you can wait that long?”  
Mermista regained her composure.“I’ve waited this long. I suppose a couple minutes won’t hurt too much.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was for the Waterlily Zine ! Such a good underutilized shipname. Anyway I hope you enjoyed, find me on tumbr [@dykemantyke](https://dykemantyke.tumblr.com) !! I do miss writing for these two... it'll always be my favorite shera ship <3


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